Marmalade

photo credit: BBC Good Food - Ultimate Seville Orange Marmalade

I cannot remember a time I didn't love the taste of marmalade. The taste and the smell both spark childhood memories of very happy moments spent with my maternal grandparents. In particular, bitter marmalade from Jamaica that I can't seem to find as an adult so I may be remembering the tin incorrectly.

You may be wondering what any of this has to do with @thelibraryladder bookishness. Reading and writing are entwined for me and I've committed to Camp Nanowrimo this July with a modest goal of writing 10,000 words by the end of the month. I've called the project Marmalade and the above picture is my current imaginary cover. It will be a collection of memories and while I'm unsure about their end format, they will turn into either one cohesive story or a collection of connected stories. Parts will be imagined due to fact checking being virtually impossible to accomplish but almost all the other parts will be what is considered creative non-fiction. Some of the words were previously written in one way or another they've struggled for a voice and I want to finally give them one.

Are you participating? Let me know so I can cheer you on! If you aren't but would like to then sign up and let's write our little hearts out!

Wherein the Library Ladder is dusted off and rolled out for blogging once again...

Melanie at The Indexrious Reader is hosting the 12th Annual Canadian Book Challenge!

I heard about the Canadian Book Challenge being held again this year, felt inspired, and decided it may be the perfect reason to revive The Library Ladder. I'm not sure when I last blogged but in the meanwhile, I started a #bookstagram which I'll also be reviving and when posting throughout the year about the challenge, using the hashtag #CanBookChallenge. I'm also looking forward to trolling through fabulous book blogs again!

The Canadian Book Challenge for this year begins July 1, 2018 and runs to June 30, 2019. You must read and review at least 13 books, of any genre, defined as Canadian (head over to Melanie's post on the guidelines of the challenge for clarification). We are such a multi-cultural and complex nation that reading more Canadian content, in all its many definitions, will surely be a fascinating exercise.

I'm starting with Niagara: A History of the Falls by Pierre Berton. This has been languishing on my TBR Mountain for many a moon and I thought it would be the perfect beginning to my Canadian Book Challenge journey. Niagara Falls is a beautiful and truly wondrous sight that must be experienced to be fully appreciated. It is an area rich in history and (from the book description) "cascades with heroes and villains, eccentrics and daredevils, scientists and power brokers, artists and charlatans..."